SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- I would like to share my recent stay at Best Western Seven Sea in San Diego. I was planning a 2 day trip to San Diego to spend a day at the San Diego Zoo and a day at SeaWorld. I was traveling alone on a mini vacation. I knew I wanted to stay at a well known hotel/motel with a good reputation. I have stayed at Best Western all over the country including many trips overseas. I like that the Best Western Seven was in hotel circle and it was close to all the major attractions, restaurant and provided a shuttle service.

I was going to be traveling alone and need a set plan to go by so I called Best Western Seven Sea to ask them about their shuttle service. I explain my travel plans. I was going to be flying in on 11/7/12 at 9 am and I was going to take a taxi straight to the zoo and that I would need to catch the shuttle back to the hotel. On 11/8/12 I was going to need a ride to SeaWorld and then I was going to need a ride back, so that I could catch a ride to the airport to catch my flight back to Houston.

I was told that the shuttle will pick up at the Zoo at 4:30 pm everyday. The hotel shuttle would be picking up their guest at the hotel at 9:30 am to take them to SeaWorld and the shuttle would be picking up the guest from SeaWorld at 5:30 pm to bring them back to the hotel. I told the person at Best Western that that was perfect and that I would be booking my trip with them. After that I booked my trip. A week before my trip I called Best Western to confirm the shuttle schedule and was told to call the day I arrived.

On 11/7/12 9:00 am my flight landed so on my way to the zoo in the taxi I called Best Western to let them know that I was going to be checking in at 5:00 pm and that I would need to catch the shuttle at 4:30 pm. The girl who I spoke with just said to wait outside the zoo at 4:30 pm, she was quick to hang up on me but I stopped her and ask her what kind of shuttle I should be looking for.

At 4:30 pm I was standing in front of the zoo looking for the shuttle but I didn't see one, so at 4:35 pm (my phone shows that was the time I called Best Western). I called Best Western to ask if the shuttle was running late. I was told to hold and the girl got back on the phone to tell me that the shuttle already left. Left? When did this shuttle pick? Did this shuttle bother to stop or did the shuttle just drove by??? How is it that the shuttle came at 4:30 but was long gone at 4:35???

I ask the girl who they picked up because it wasn't me. I was put back on hold then she came back on the line to tell me that they picked up the one person who was scheduled to be picked up and that person wasn't me. I told her how I called 6 weeks ago and I also called a week ago and I called earlier that morning explaining that I needed the shuttle to pick me up from the zoo. So told me that the shuttle could come back for me in 2 hours. How is it possible that a shuttle that was to arrive at 4:30 was so far away by 4:35 that it would take them 2 hours to come back for me?

I explained to the girl that I was traveling alone and that I didn't know anyone in San Diego. With the time change for daylight saving it got darker faster and it's colder really fast. I explain all this to the girl and she just told me to call a taxi or I could just wait till 6:30 for the shuttle then she hung up on me. I sat on the bench and waiting for almost 2 hours in the cold and dark waiting for the shuttle. It got so cold that a girl selling t-shirt felt sorry for me and offered me a ride to the hotel. Thanks for nothing Best Western!

When I arrived at the hotel to check in I ask her where the shuttle was and sure enough the shuttle and the driver arrived. I guess I was not important enough to come pick up. All the girl said to me was that it wasn't 6:30 yet and that the shuttle would have picked me up at 6:30! Are you serious? Is this how you guys ran business? How do you stay in business? I then asked for the manager and was told that the manager would be out all week and that one of the little girl was in change. If you call ignoring me and turning her back on me whispering to her co-worker being in charge.

Everyone there was rude and blamed me for not being checked in that morning. I told them that I called 3 times in 6 weeks to confirm the shuttle service schedule and everyone all told me the same thing and I was rushed off the phone. I was like, “okay”. Best Western does not care about their customers nor do you care that you left a young woman at the zoo in a strange city in the cold and dark sitting on the bench. I told them that I will be up and ready the next morning to catch the 9:30 am shuttle to SeaWorld and for them to please not leave me again. I got no apology or anything so I just went to my room.

The next morning as I was waiting for the shuttle I watch as a new quest checked in and wanted to catch the shuttle but they were told that the shuttle was busy and they could just call a taxi. I'm glad it wasn't just me. You guys are horrible and unreliable! As I waiting for the shuttle I noticed that there was a gentle man that turn out to be the manager. What do you know? You guys do have a manager? I ask him to confirm the time the shuttle was picking up because I did not want to be left again. The manager said 6:00 pm!

What the hell happened to 5:30? Do you guys make up schedule as you go? You are incompetent!!! After explaining to the manager that I was left at the zoo the night before he said he will have the shuttle pick me and another couple up from SeaWorld at 4:30 pm. The shuttle was supposed to pick us up at 4:30 and bring us all back to the hotel. Then the shuttle would take me to the airport at 5:00 to catch my flight.

Best Western went and did it again. At 4:45 when the shuttle picked us up from SeaWorld and deliver us to the hotel I had asked the driver if he would be going to the airport and he said NO!!! I got off the shuttle and went to the front desk while the shuttle drove away. I asked the front desk if a shuttle was going to the airport and the girl said it was supposed to but it's not. Yes, this is really how you run business. I had to take a taxi to the airport since I was lied to again. While I waited for the taxi I watch more people come to the front desk to ask about the shuttle service and they were all told to just call a taxi.

I have never in all my years of travel see a company run this way. There is no rhyme or reason or schedule in anything you do. I have stayed at hotels/motel all around the world and have never been treated like the way I was treated. It wasn't just me. There were at least 6 other people that I personally witnessed who were turned away. I don't think I should have to pay for a taxi when I pay for a hotel that had a shuttle service.

How could you leave a paying customer at the zoo and tell them to wait 2 hours while the driver may or may not pick them up? I have told anyone that would listen what happened to me. I will never stay or let a friend stay at another Best Western. I have booked my trip to Spain with Best Western but I am cancelling it because I will not waste another penny with such an incompetent company that would treat loyal customer so poorly.

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Unhappy With Hotel and Workers

By Kimberly - 04/18/2013

Rating: 1/51

WEST COVINA (GARVEY ST), CALIFORNIA -- Myself, sisters, mother, aunt and children all stayed at the Best Western on Garvey ave. in Covina California on Friday 4-12 through 4-16. We came to town to see our grandmother all the way from Oregon and Montana! We were only in the hotel in the evenings because we were visiting family during the days.

On Sunday was our first problem. I sent my daughter to grab shampoo from the desk and the gentleman was very snotty and rude to her about coming down alone, so he called me in the room and was very rude about it! I am a paying customer and if I want to send my daughter for shampoo then it is my business. Then on Monday night we got back to the hotel around 9 pm and my sister and mother were going to take our kids down to the pool to swim for a bit. The kids ran down the hall to the elevator. They were not loud.

When they got to the 1st floor the employee greeted them with crossed arms telling them that our kids are too loud and people are complaining and sick with diabetes. My family told the guy, "Well our kids have not been here all day and we are just going down to let them get energy out. We haven't had any complaints yet so it must not have been our children."

When the employee was rude back that puts my family on the defense! The employee told my family he was going to send out the sick man to talk to them! Sure enough he came out and started yelling at my sister, and excuse my language but he said, "You are a **, and if you wouldn't have opened your legs you wouldn't have these problems running around!" Then he asked her if she wanted to fight!!!!

My sister feeling threatened gave him a push. Well the cops were called and came up banging on my door at 930 pm. After talking with them and they even said they questioned why the employee would send another guest out after he was clearly angry... So the cops left and we thought everything was OK! Come 430 am my sister's car alarm starts going off and she had a few attempts of someone trying to bust the windshield and when that didn't work they busted the back windows out.

The cops were called back again! We tried talking to the front desk to talk with a manager and all we got was a run around. The manager will be in at 1230. Well we were supposed to be on the road at 5 am and it was now 9am. We can't wait any longer with a 13 hour drive ahead if us.

So I left my name and number and at about 7 pm a man calls me to try to resolve the matter and I'm not 100 percent sure but I think he said his name was **!? Well he apologized and tried saying it was the angry customer who was just out to fight and his employee couldn't handle it himself so the guy took it upon himself to deal with it and was really trying to make it better.

I asked for my mother's, aunt's and my rooms refunded but all he said he could do was give us 2 nights free in that hotel whenever we want! Well after all that has happened and the very rude ** at the desk none if us will ever stay there ever again! We all would like to be refunded our money. Our rooms were 220, 222, 223.

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Scammed out of $500 for bogus smoking fee

By Brandi - 03/27/2013

Rating: 1/51

OREGON, CALIFORNIA -- I am from out of town and frustrated by what happened during my visit to Portland. I need help exposing this scam and assuring that businesses do not engage in unscrupulous tactics such as this. My recent stay at Best Western Inn at the Meadows has been one of the worst travel experiences of my life. I was falsely, and unlawfully charged a $500 a smoking fee despite the fact that smoking did not occur in the room. The manager is basing this solely on his discriminatory opinion and bias.

My credit card was initially charged $500 on 3/23/13 for a smoking fee, that charged was reversed soon after, a subsequent charge of $352.68 was made on 3/23/13, the charge for $352.68 was then voided and my card was again unlawfully charged $500. This is a blatant attempt to steal my money. I fully comprehended the non-smoking policy, and I was well aware of the fees associated with violation of this policy.

Also, having worked in Property Management for several years, and being a non-smoker myself, I completely understand and agree with this policy. I checked in on 3/22/13 directly off of a flight from Hawaii. I was only physically in the room for approximately eleven hours total before exiting the property for over 24 hours at around 11:00 am on the 3/23/13. I left Portland for the night to continue my vacation and upon return around 10:30 pm the following night I noticed neither of my door keys worked.

I proceeded to the front desk, showed my identification and returned to my room to rest after a very long day. The front desk then proceeded to call my room near midnight, demanding I come down to discuss something. In all of my years of staying at hotels dispute, issue, or whatever the situation I have never been instructed to get out of bed at midnight, put on my clothing, and engage in dialogue with the front desk clerks, not even management, to settle a matter.

When I arrived at the front desk I was greeted by a very rude and unprofessional employee that was not previously at the desk when I was there earlier, (fixing my keys that coincidentally had been deactivated). This employee proceeded to shove a paper across the desk at me instructing me to sign a “smoking fee.” I immediately disputed this! It was past midnight, I had no idea what was going on, this is the first I've ever heard of such a thing, I had not smoked in the room or even been there for 24 hours for that matter. There is no basis for this charge other than assumption and no evidence irrefutable, conclusive, or otherwise that smoking occurred in the room.

Furthermore, I was not provided with proof that services for a room recovery were actually completed by your hotel. It is my understanding that a merchant needs my signature to validate a charge and I need proof that a violation has or had occurred and proof that services were rendered (which was not provided). When I got upset and disputed the charge on check out the manager increased the fee from $362.68 to $500 which posted to my account on 3/25/13 subsequent to check out and following our unpleasant discussion!

This was unauthorized and charged solely because he didn't like what I had to say to him. The manager has been completely uncooperative, unfair, unkind, and unprofessional. He has failed to provide any contact information for anyone besides himself. He stated he was owner and manager and I had to go through him. He gave me nothing written, provided no dispute policy, and said I had no recourse, it was his opinion I had smoked therefore I was paying the fee. I am currently working with my financial institution to fight these unauthorized charges and recoup my losses.

I am in no way paying any $500 smoking fee charged to my account by the Best Western Inn at the Meadows, for the simple fact that no one smoked in the room. Each establishment is independently owned, however, Best Western Inn at the Meadows is a horrible example of what a customer service oriented business should be. I sincerely hope my experience wasn't indicative of how they treat all of their guests. Having worked both in the customer service industry and management, along with traveling frequently, I am still having trouble conveying to you how astounded I am by the unprofessional treatment by those working at Best Western Inn at the Meadows and their theft of $500.

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In the Dark--Intentional Black Out Without Notice

By Cindy - 10/14/2013

Rating: 1/51

LUSK, WYOMING -- The Problem: We stopped at the Best Western Lusk hotel because of the many bill boards on our journey from Mount Rushmore to Casper. The bill boards advertised a hot breakfast. Since we have always had good experiences with Best Western we decided to book a room.

Once establishing that there was a room available and a rate that was satisfactory, we checked in. After we checked in we were informed that there would be no hot breakfast as there would be some electric outage that would prevent making a hot breakfast. Although we were not happy with this (especially since she told us after we checked in), we did not think that was an overwhelming reason to go elsewhere. We were not informed that there would be no electricity in our hotel room. I am aware that the hotel believes that the clerk did inform us, and perhaps she thought she had, but she did not (both my husband and I were there).

At about 6:30 am I went to take a shower and there was no electricity. As you may be aware it is extremely dark in the bathroom as there are no windows in the bathroom in our unit. I am sure that you will agree that the ability to take a shower in a safe environment (having light) in a fundamental part of renting a room. Although we could enter the ice room with our room key, we were not able to get any ice as the electricity was out.

The Remedy: I am requesting a 50% refund of our room rate. We paid $99 (with tax $107). The reason I feel strongly about this is that, apparently, the electrical outage was known and not some random event. Charging customers full price for only partial service is an intentional breach of our contract (we pay you money for a room and you give us a room with a bed, bathing facilities, toilet). Further the advertised a hot breakfast was not provided. If we had known that there would be no electricity (which your motel did know) we would have continued on our trip.

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100% Crooks! Horrible Hotel

By Michael - 07/04/2013

Rating: 1/51

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- This was the worst hotel I have ever stayed at. It started with all the outlets were broke in the room. We could not turn on any lights nor charge our phone. In order to have any light we used the very loud bathroom/fan light which kept up my kids. The ac unit is on the way out as well and took hours to cool this very small room. It was extremely loud. The TV had terrible reception so watching anything we had to look through lines.

The fridge was 100% broken so all our food and drinks spoiled. WiFi was so bad that we never got a strong enough signal to get access to internet. There was a large gap under the door to the outside big enough to put a sandal all the way outside while door was closed. Hello bugs! We tried to go down to the vending machine to just learn they were both out of order.

We then tried to go to the pool and there were no pool lights. Zero. This place is so run down. Swimming in pitch black no thanks... Kids felt scared. When we went to bed we smelled the sheets... Yuck!!! The next morning I went to make coffee and noticed the coffee straws were all previously used... GROSS! I just had enough.

I went to the front desk and the girl got her Supervisor who was so rude... She couldn't care less that anything was wrong. She offered me ten dollars back and said thanks for coming. I have since tried to reach the hotel Manager and verified he was in fact on property when I called several times but was put to his voice mail. He has never called back. I have left several messages. I believe this hotel is running a scam... I can't understand why they continue to rent this room out knowing all these things were wrong. I will never go back.

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Cancelled a Confirmed Reservation to Get More Money During Minnesota St

By Lee - 08/21/2012

Rating: 1/51

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA -- I thought you can assist me in lodging a complaint against Best Western Hotels. I had a confirmed reservation number of **. I applied my AAA discount and requested that my reward points are applied to my reward points account#: **. I made this reservation in May of 2012. Realizing this was peak season for the Minnesota State Fair I booked as soon as I had confirmation from friends also arriving for the festivities.

I also made another reservation for accommodations at the same location for 7 Dec to 9 Dec 2012 for an upcoming examination I am required to take for my employment. Confirmation # **. Now, you can imagine my dismay when I received a phone call around the dinner hour on 20 August 2012 telling me that I was about to be pre-charged for services I had not yet received.

When I protested I was told that I my reservations would be cancelled and my room would be given to a party that can pay now. (Actually a ruse to charge a higher premium rate for last minute travelers.) What stymies me the most is…. That this is an unwarranted. Yet, a new benefit of The Best Western rewards program. I am shocked to see that Best Western would cancel a confirmed room in pursuit of the all mighty dollar.

Best Western has the ability to fix this miscarriage of hospitality. I sincerely hope that there management team will look into this and correct. I am not asking to profit from this. Just return whole. Until Best Western Best western corrects this I will cancel my upcoming stay in December 2012. I will further use any resource and media available to spread the word of the sub-standard service one can expect from Best Western Hotels.

I will alert all my business associates, travel agencies I am acquainted with, colleagues, friends and family to not walk but run away from Best Western Hotels. I am considering using social media, blogs, to spread the word. Business Classes in college taught me it takes years to build a solid reputation…and one stupid act to destroy it. So I beg you Best Western Hotels...Please fix this.

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Bad customer service

By Sanca - 10/10/2007

SANTORINI -- Best Western ruined our family vacation we planned for over 2 years. The management at the hotel was rude and the hotel is misrepresented on the internet. The accommodations at the Paradise Hotel Akrotiri 847 00 Santorini, are not what we expect from Best Western - the worlds largest chain.

The free breakfast was awful, almost an insult to the guests. Each morning we received the same thing: 3 slices of stale bread, one boiled egg, a thin slice of cheese, one slice of bologna and a piece of cake. On the breakfast bar there was only one type of cereal served with hot milk. The milk was either made from instant powder or was watered down and was undrinkable. There were also some stale cookies, served from previous days since no one would eat them.

There was no home-made food, and there was no bar. I would not call what we had a shower in the room. We had a bathtub faucet with a hose attached. There was no bathtub and no place to hang the hose. For the time, let's call it a shower. Not having a place to hang the hose made it very uncomfortable to take a "shower". I had to hold the hose for the kids so they could wash. My husband and I had to shower with one hand, the other hand holding the hose. If you dropped the hose, water would spray all over the bathroom. There was no shower curtain and the bathroom floor was continuously wet.

We complained that there was no hot water in the morning. The front desk manager yelled that it was impossible not to have hot water and told us to let the water run for 2 minutes. We did let the water run, and it took far longer than 2 minutes. The next morning we timed it. It took 10 minutes to have warm water and 12 minutes to have hot water. This problem was compounded by the fact that the pipes would bang inside the walls when the shower was running. It sounded like someone firing an automatic rifle. I experienced better conditions camping.

One afternoon when we came back from the beach, there was no hot water. The front desk person laughed, saying that there was a big demand for water, lots of people coming from the beach, not just us. He did not even go to check to see if the water heater was working properly. The towels in the bathroom that we received had seen better days, they looked 10 years old. They were no longer white, but a pale shade of grey. One towel used to have a floral print, was a pale blue faded rag. Maybe the hotel staff had used them and they did not want to throw them away and decided they were fit for the guests.

No towels were provided at the pool and we've been asked not to use the room towels. I did not expect that a full service hotel, that advertises bar at the pool not to provide towels. The bathroom sink pedestal was loose and would shift about if you touched the basin. There was also a large shelf above the sink that made it almost impossible to wash your face.

When we checked in, we were provided with the room key as well as remote controls for the TV and for the AC unit. The AC unit was functional only if the key was in the room, since we had to put the room key inside an apparatus on the wall to enable the use of the electricity in the room. When we stopped by the hotel during the day, the room would be like an oven and it would take 2-3 hours to cool it off.

The beds did not have even light blankets, just sheets. The pillows were old, and disgusting. The family running the hotel - mother, son and the father, continuously harassed us. No manners, no people skills, nothing, just a rude family, who made our vacation miserable. They must have training from Osama Bin Laden how to "properly" run a hotel.

One day we were spending time at the pool. The kids were diving from the diving board. The older person in charge came charging out yelling and scaring my kids in my presence! He was telling them to stop jumping of the diving board, by yelling "What is this? What is this?" I asked him respectfully not to yell and the diving board is there for people to use. He turned his back to me, and began cursing in Greek.

A day later when we were at the pool again, my husband was asked not to sit with his wet swimming trunks on the pool furniture. Another time we attempted to enjoy a beautiful day at the pool, the woman in charge came out and started to move the pool furniture away, turning the chairs so they faced the wall of a flower bed. This pool furniture was made out of plastic, no pillows. All of these actions were intended to harass us and to spoil our time.

One morning at 7:45 the kids wanted to go to the pool. There was a family of Germans already using the pool, and I told them it would be OK to go for a swim before breakfast. The second they went in the water, the woman from front desk came out advising us that we cannot use the pool before 8 am. My husband had the kids come out of the pool and the woman seemed satisfied. The other family was still in the pool! This rule must have only applied to us since the other family had been in the pool since 7:30. They sure did not want to miss an opportunity to spoil our day.

Once we came up for the "a la cart" breakfast, 5 minutes before 8 am, the older guy in charge came to our table and in a very rude tone of voice advises us that breakfast is served at 8 o'clock. This was towards the end of our stay, so we knew very well what time the breakfast was served. They made it a very hostile environment to be in.

On the website the hotel is presented as pet friendly. There was a large white dog with red collar that would come on property everyday. For a while we thought that the dog belonged to a hotel guest or the property owners. The kids liked the dog and played with him. During one hot day, the dog started digging and lied down in a geranium flower bed. The woman manager came storming down to our room and yelling at us to see what the dog did.

I tried to explain to her nicely that is not our fault that we did not bring the dog there, but all we got was another dose of Greek cursing. My kids were also upset when they saw the woman manager throwing rocks at a cat that was sleeping in the shade. We saw the cat on another occasion noticing it had been blinded in one eye. We do not know if this injury resulted from the actions of the woman at the hotel, but try to convince our kids of that. They were very upset by the chain of events.

Because we had been harassed and inconvenienced daily by the family running this hotel, we did not trust them to provide us with a wake up call. If we missed the flight we would have to pay extra expenses. So, the day before our departure, I asked my family in US to call me in the morning for the wake up call. The front desk would pick up the call and hang up the phone. They never transferred a call to our room.

At 6 AM when we opened the door to put the luggage in the car and head for the airport, before checking out, the woman from front desk walked into our room uninvited for a site inspection. No hello, good morning or anything, she just burst in, without a greeting of any kind. She likely wanted to make sure we are not running away with the little TV, the rags that were supposed to pass for towels, or maybe some chairs. She took the remote controls for the TV and air conditioner.

I want also to mention that we are not the only unhappy guest at this property. There were numerous families that were very unsatisfied. When a guest from Germany came to us to talk about services received, she was rudely interrupted by the woman at front desk not to talk to other guest. I was very intrigued by the rudeness of this family running the hotel, not just with us, but with all guest from different countries.

I've also been double charged for our stay, probably to block funds on our credit card. Customer service offered me 100.00 for future stay at the Best Western. I will never stay at this chain again. I traveled all over the world and I never meet such rude people to run a hotel, and such a dumpy hotel to charge 145 euros per night for 4 people in the room.

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Full charge at cancellation

By fornari - 09/06/2007

, AUSTRIA -- My complaint is against the Best Western Hotel Erzherzog Rainer. 1040 Vienna, Wiedner HauptstraÃe 27-29, Austria. T (+43-1-) 501 11 0; F (+43-1-) 501 11 350. On July 27th 2007 I booked one single room for six nights, for September 23rd, 2007. I did it online, through the site BOOKING.COM. At the time of my booking the web-site clearly stated that cancellations prior to two days before the booking date would be free of charge. It was also stated that my credit card would not be charged, and the full amount would only be paid in my arrival at the hotel.

However, as I booked it, for some unknown reason, the date came for August 23rd 2007 and not for September 2007. I then contacted the hotel to change the date (to September) or to cancel my reservation. They said that the hotel was fully booked for September and they charged my credit card for the FULL AMOUNT of six nights, which was 391â¬. That was when I saw that, at the booking confirmation, a very different cancellation policy was stated:

Cancellation policy: Please note, if cancelled or modified, the total price of the reservation will be charged. My comment: The hotel placed this crazy "cancellation with full payment" policy only AFTER the booking confirmation. Think with me, what is the point of having this cancellation policy if the full amount is charged anyway? If the hotel wanted to be fair, they should NOT cancel my reservation, so I would be charged BUT the room would be booked and available.

The way they did, I was charged AND the room was canceled. Of course, the hotel booked this room to somebody else and made a cool double profit on my expenses. Is it fair? Is it honest? Then the Hotel offered to me a one-night voucher (written "depending on availability") after charging me for six nights. This is an insult ridiculous and an insult for my intelligence. I wrote emails to BOOKING.COM, the Hotel Erzherzog Rainer and to the Tourism Service Government Agency in Vienna, Austria.

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Bad Experience At Best Western

By lexiegram - 10/07/2011

We rented a room at the Best Western on Water St., in Port Huron Twp., MI. from Sept. 26 through Oct. 5th while we were having home renovations done. We were charged $55.00 night and $110.00 on the week-end. Our room was non-smoking. My initial observation was: the lobby area, elevator and hallways were extremely uncomfortable and hot. No air was in use. We were on 2nd floor- 2nd to last at the end. The carpeting was extremely stained and dirty. It was evident that it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

The first time I put my entrance card in the door, it would not work. I had to turn around, walk back to the elevator with all my baggage, go to the desk and have card re-activated. (Never even used!) I then had to wait for the elevator and walk back down the hallway to my room. The very 1st thing I noticed was that the room although clean, smelled horribly of cigarettes. It upset my stomach. I am used to being around cigarette smoke, as my husband smokes, but never inside our home. This odor was overwhelming.

We had no intention of sleeping at the hotel, only using the shower or tub. There was no way I could have stayed in that room overnight. There was a card on the dresser that said the room was non-smoking, and that there would be an automatic fee assessed to an account if there was any smoking. This did not make sense to me-someone was smoking, heavily in that room and it wasn't me! I took a bath, and climbed into bed to relax.

Around 10 am, there was a loud knocking on my door. As I responded "just a minute" (not fully dressed), my door opened and a female yelled in that she needed dirty towels. The top lock was on the door, so she could only open it a few inches, but wide enough for me to see her and her to see me. I was infuriated. I paid for privacy, and at NO time should an employee walk in an occupied room! I dressed and went directly to the manager, and advised him of the smoking smell and the episode of the "towel lady" walking in my room. He simply apologized.

Later that day, my son went to the hotel, and his room card did not work. He too had to walk back to the elevator with baggage in hand, go to the front desk and have it re-activated. This issue happened on at least 10 different occasions. This was frustrating, as the hotel was informed of our extended stay.

The following day, a female employee came up to me as I entered the hotel and advised me that she sprayed freshener in our room. I asked her if it smelled like smoke to her, and she said that she was a smoker, and yes-it did smell like smoke. The only logical explanation is that the hotel employees did smoke consistently in this non-smoking room. My husband was only there 1 time and he did NOT ever smoke in that room. The room continued to smell heavily of cigarette smoke during our entire stay.

The room was kept clean with plenty of towels available. But, we were very dissatisfied with the inconvenience of the deactivated room card, and the smoke smell. I am also upset that an employee would barge into an occupied room without permission.

I paid almost $800.00 for our 9 night stay, and I definitely feel this was excessive. We would not consider using Best Western Hotel again because of these complaints. There was never any suggestion or offer for a discount or adjustment. Thank you.

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Profiling & Pretext of Customers with NO Evidence

By Karob - 07/29/2011

32124 25TH AVENUE SOUTH, FEDERAL WAY -, WASHINGTON -- We showed up at 3:30 to check into our room that was to be ready at 3:00 and it was not. We waited in the lobby with two expensive race bicycles and all of our belongings until after 4:00 when our room finally became available. We ended up in a handicap room with a heater that didn't work.

The next morning we woke up to pounding on the door. For a moment I forgot where we stayed that night and was quite startled by the ruckus. I asked "who's there" and was told to open up immediately and that it was "an emergency". I went to the door and looked through the peep hole. I observed a dark skinned man wearing black jeans, and a business suit with no name tag before he covered the peep hole with his finger.

I grabbed boxer shorts and a ball point pen off the table and slowly cracked the door. The person who was later identified as the manager ** pushed the door the rest of the way open and quickly barged into the room. My girlfriend covered herself up the rest of the way and fled to the corner of the room. ** stated that the police were on the way and that we were being evicted from the room immediately for smoking and that there was a $500.00 smoking charge.

I later realized that we were being accused of smoking marijuana and not just or only cigarettes. We packed our things to leave as requested. ** frantically looked around the room for evidence to his claim. ** even exceeded his legal rights and began moving our things around looking for evidence. ** told my girlfriend she needed to sign a paper accepting a $500 charge that stated we smoked marijuana/cigarettes in the room.

Of course she refused to do so. We asked what evidence they had we were responsible for this action. ** stated to my girlfriend "that the whole hallway smelled like marijuana". I asked again how they knew that we were responsible for this. ** stated that "I'm not talking to you, I'm only talking to the card holder". Kind of ironic since I was the one asking the questions yet he was responding to her.

** said it was a management decision and that he did not need a signature to charge the card for the smoking fee. We requested and we're given a copy of the unsigned charges. As we were leaving the hotel ** thought of one last thing he could do to push his weight around and further upset us. He asked one of the officers if we could be cited for trespassing. The officer said yes and had us step outside by his patrol car. We were given a warning not to return to the premises or we would be arrested for trespassing.

There was no investigation, no arrest for illegal activity of any kind or police report filed. The responding officers were observant of the situation but remained respectable to both sides the entire process. Witnessing that no evidence was provided by management upon request they suggested that we "take the matter to a corporate level". I ended up chatting with the officers about their squad cars for a bit as part of my profession includes outfitting emergency/patrol vehicles with communication and tech equipment.

I also install court ordered IID's which is basically a vehicle breathalyzer. My determination of this situation is that it is Unfounded. Unfounded is a legal term that states the action or statement did not occur. I believe we were blamed for this occurrence based on profiling and pretext. We are both young adults of mixed race and our names and image reflect that. It is unfortunate that the acting manager ** did not follow proper rules of engagement in a situation like this.